The Circle Round

When my niece was little, she used to call the spinning chimney caps “circle rounds”. We all got a kick out of it and thought it was really cute. I use the term today to iterate a concept Bruce Lee talked about when he said, “Before I learned martial arts, a punch was just a punch and a kick was just a kick. When I studied martial arts, a punch was no longer just a punch and a kick was no longer just a kick. Now I understand martial arts, and a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.”

I had a very interesting conversation with a catholic priest today. It was at school, and I had just gotten out of class, thinking very deeply on this whole God thing. I don’t know, something inside of me sometimes feels like its starving for a spiritual fulfillment. I look at things like consciousness, and I just don’t understand how it can possibly exist without being a manifestation of something greater. Whatever we think we understand about it, and however flawed it may be, it still is. And what IT is, is still a topic of endless debate. Many call consciousness an emergent quality of a complex system; but, is not the universe incredibly more complex and vast? Would not a vaster and more complex system manifest a higher emergent consciousness? Granted, this would not be immediately observable, and would still call into question if this consciousness could or would still be aware of itself or its parts. A lot of unknown variables to say the least, but it is something to consider or at least work with.

Is this drive inside me for some kind of spiritual connection a human condition, or was I moulded for such based upon my upbringing? If the former, why do some not have such a drive? If the latter, how can I be rid of such pervasive conditioning? In any case, something the catholic priest said was very interesting. He mentioned something called “mysteries” and explained these mysteries as the things above and beyond what we can know through our reason but can still be accessible by other means. It is perfectly reasonable to know that there are things beyond our senses; it is interesting to understand what modalities might be involved with their discovery. All I know is that while there are still a great many things that I consider absurd with Catholicism, this priest has given me something to ponder.

It seems as if I may be participating in a circle round. When I was Mormon, a spiritual experience was just a spiritual experience, and a spiritual connection was just a spiritual connection. Now that I am an atheist, a spiritual experience is no longer just a spiritual experience, and a spiritual connection is no longer just a spiritual connection. Who knows, maybe I might one day understand “martial arts” to complete the circle. All I know is that I’m not anywhere near done my journey.